Abrading machine



Sept.- 15, 1942.

| p. ALDERMAN ABRADING MACHINE Fild July 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l p 1942- L. a. ALDERMAN ABRADING MACHINE Filed July 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 15, 1942 ABRADING MACHINE Leon D. Alderman, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemingtom'N; J.,' a corporation of New Jersey Application 'July 25, 1940,Serial No. 347,447

.1 Claim.

This invention relates to abrading machines and is herein illustrated and described as embodied in a bufling machine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. ,537,

granted October 22, 1940, upon the application for holding the work-piece in engagement with the bufiing tool during its progress past the tool.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bufiing machine with improved means for holding a work-piece in engagement with a buff ing tool. As shown herein, the illustrated machine is provided with a plurality of resiliently yieldable fingers for slidably engaging a moving work-piece to press the work-piece against the bufiing tool. In accordance with a feature of the invention, each of these fingers carries a replaceable work-engaging member of wire, the wire being bent to retain it in a hole formed in the finger. These wires serve-to protect the ends of the fingers from damage by contact with the bufiing tool; and the wires themselves may readily be replaced if damaged by such contact.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings of one specific embodiment thereof, while its scope will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation showing the general organization of buffing tool, work-feeding means and presser member;

Fig. 2 is a view looking in the direction of the arrows on Fig. 1, showing the presser member and showing also the portion of the bllfilng roll in section along the line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line III-III of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the presser member; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 4.

As shown in Fig. 1, the machine disclosed herein consists in its general organization of a bufiing roll I40 having an abrasive cover 500 (Fig. 2), a work-feeding device 2M, a work table 238, and a feed plate 232 having a smooth under surface for pressing the work-piece into the resilient material of the feeding device just prior to the engagement of the work-piece with the bufiing roll. All of the parts above-mentioned are similar to the parts similarly numbered in Letters Patent No. 2,218,537 above referred to, to which reference may be had for a more complete understanding of their detailed construction, As described in that application, the workfeeding device comprises a plurality of rubber feed belts mounted upon individual pulleys having parallel axes, but with the axis of each pulley slightly displaced from that of its neighbor and oblique to the axis of the buffing roll to introduce an axial component of movement between the work and the buffing roll for the purpose of eliminating scratch marks upon the work. This oblique relation, however, is of no importance in connection with the present'invention. The feed belts of the Knowlton machine may therefore for present purposes be considered the equivalent of an ordinary feed rubber covered roll 2N which is shown in the present drawings. In place of the presser member 284 of the machine disclosed in the above-mentioned Letters Patent No. 2,218,537gthe present machine is provided with an improved'presser member 6110 (Figs. 1 and 2) which is carried by a transverse frame member I53 which corresponds to the similar member of the Knowlton machine.

For supporting the presser BBO upon the frame member I53, there is provided a transversely'extending bracket 602 which is secured directly to the frame member by bolts 6M extending through vertical slots in the bracket 602 to accommodate heightwise adjustment of the presser. At each end of the bracket 602 is an inclined ear 606 to which is secured a plate 608 which constitutes the principal supporting structure of the presser member. The plate 688 is clamped upon the car 606 by screws 6H1 passing through washers BIZ. Secured against the under face of the plate 608 by three screws Bi l is a second plate 6H5. The screws BM extend through slots 618 formed in the plate 698 to accommodate adjustment of the plate 6H5. A key 620 secured in the plate (H6 and extending into a slot 622 in the plate 608, maintains the plate BIB in alinement. The adjustment of the plate H6 is effected by a screw 624 threaded into a block 625 which is secured to the plate 608 by screws 628. The screw 624 is held against endwise movement relatively to the plate 6 l 6 by a pair of collars 630 secured upon a smooth portion of the shank of the screw 624 threaded upon the screw 636 engage opposite faces of the plate 632 to hold the plate 6K6 in adjusted position. It is sometimes convenient to secure the nuts 646 and 642 in spaced relation upon the screw 624 by lock nuts or set screws, in which case the nut 646 is used as a stop to prevent adjustment toward the abrading roll closer than a predetermined clearance, and the n ut 1642 is used to determine a desired position of readjustment.

Secured to the under face of the plate .616 :by screws 644 is a plate 646 having a flange .6418 turned inwardly toward the plate 668. Interposed for transverse sliding movement between the plates 6.46 and 668 is a bar=650 extending substantially the lengthof the plate 646. As:shown in Fig. 5 this bar is angular in cross section except at its end portions which are solid. Engaging each of the solid end portions of the bar {650 is the shouldered end portion of an adjustable supporting screw 652. Also interposed between the plates 646 and 668 and extending substantially the length of the bar 65!! and resting upon one of the flanges thereof is a long block or pad 654 of sponge rubber. Secured to the under ,face of the plate 608 by screws 656 extending through spacer blocks 658 and at a locality beyond the flange 648 is a transverse retaining plate 660.

The presser, fingers are mounted for longitudinal reciprocatory movement between the retaining plate 660 and the plate 608 and comprise a set of relatively wide fingers 662 (Fig. 3), the opposite edge portions of which engage guide slots 664 and 666 formed in the retaining plate 660 and plate 608 respectively, and also a set of relatively narrow fingers 66B arranged in alternate .relation between the wide fingers. The narrow fingers are held against edgewise movement by en- .gagement with the plates 660 and 6.68, and against transverse movement byengagement with the adjacent Wide fingers. The inner end of each of the fingers 662, and also the inner end of each oi the fingers 668, is provided with a foot 6-16 which ing of a 'wire which is first introduced through the bore and is then bent to the form shown in Fig. 5 to retain it in position. The outer portions of the work-engaging members are smooth and engage the work with a minimum of friction. These wires are of 'a moderately hard wear-resistant steel, and may be readily and individually replaced if damaged by contact with the :bufling tool; and it may be noted that they senve to protect the ends of the fingers 662 and 668 from such contact.

In the operation of the machine, a sole S (Figs. 1 and 2) passing between the work table 238 and thefeed plate 232 is engaged by the feed roll 2l4 and thereby pressed against the feed plate 232 and the bufiing roll I40. The presser fingers above-described deflect the sole upwardly and curye .it partially around the bufiing roll, prolonging .the engagement of the sole with the bull?- ing roll under a pressure which is relatively light,

ascompared with the initial pressure exerted by the feed member 214, to obtain a smoothfinish.

It will be observed, with reference-to Fig. 2, that, however irregular the work :piece'may Ibe inpross section owing to its edgeshaving ;.been, skived, the fingers 662 and668 will yield individually to press each portion of the sole with approximately ,equal pressure against theabradingsuriace of the buding roll. The pad 654, by reason of the particularly resilient quality of sponge rubber, will yield locally in such-la way ;as to actalmost independently upon adjacent presser fingers. The degree of compression of the pad may be adjusted by tightening the screws'652. The normal orextended position of the presser finger may be varied from or toward the buffing roll to accommodate work-pieces of greater or less thickness by varying the position of the flange 6,4,8 through the adjustment affected by the screw 624. Such adjustment of the position of the presser finger is onlynecessary however forex-treme thicknesses, owing to the highly resilient-nature-of the-sponge rubber pad. I

Having thus described my invention, what I [claim as new and desire to secure by :Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A work-pressing finger for use in abrading machines, comprising a finger-like member adapted to -press a movingwork-piece against an abrading tool, and a replaceable work-engaging member of wire, said finger having a .hole through which 'LEQN ';D. ALDERMAN. 

